Interactive treasure hunt game

ABSTRACT

An interactive treasure hunt game, preferably in the form of a television game show, includes a host in a studio essentially serving as a master of ceremonies, who is positioned on a stage adjacent a large map of the United States. The treasure hunt game features a nationwide treasure hunt for a national grand prize, as well as a series of regional or local treasure hunts that yield weekly prizes and local grand prizes. Co-hosts are located around the country, and in one embodiment there is one co-host in each state of the U.S. These co-hosts in each state provide local clues that ultimately lead to prizes. The prizes may be provided by sponsors, and in exchange, the clues may drive the general public to the sponsor businesses, or to purchase a sponsor&#39;s products or services, in search of the treasure, prizes, or additional clues.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to treasure hunt games. Morespecifically, the present invention includes an interactive treasurehunt game that is nationwide in scope, uses television and/or otherelectronic media, such as the internet, to distribute clues, awardsvaluable prizes to winning participants, and generates revenue in avariety of ways.

Television game shows, in many different formats, have been popular fordecades. Early game shows required that the participants be in thetelevision studio, either as a pre-selected group, or wherein theparticipants were selected from the audience in attendance. Morerecently, as game shows and televised contests have become moreinteractive due to advances in communication technology, audienceparticipation has been broadened to include the general viewing public.Indeed, television game shows have converged with the internet and othercommunications tools (text messaging, electronic video transfer, etc),so that participants in the game may use (or may be required to use) acombination of electronic tools and media to compete for prizes.

In an effort to broaden the number of competitors who may participate inthese interactive games, it would be desirable to provide a treasurehunt that is national in scope, wherein prizes are distributed across alarge geographical area, and which could include a large number ofsponsors. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide incentive forbusinesses to participate as sponsors in a variety of creative ways.Further, it would be desirable to provide a revenue in creative ways,and have high entertainment value for the general public.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, an interactive treasurehunt game includes a host in a studio essentially serving as a master ofceremonies, who is positioned on a stage adjacent a large map of theUnited States. The treasure hunt game features a nationwide treasurehunt for a national grand prize, as well as a series of regional orlocal treasure hunts that yield weekly prizes and local grand prizes.Co-hosts are located around the country, and in one embodiment there isone co-host in each state of the U.S. These co-hosts in each stateprovide clues that ultimately lead to prizes. The prizes may be providedby sponsors, and in exchange, the clues may drive the general public tothe sponsor businesses, or to purchase a sponsor's products, in searchof the treasure, prizes, or additional clues.

In one embodiment of the present invention, hidden cameras may be placedat or near the treasures, in order to capture video of participants asthey get close to finding the treasure. Alternatively, or in combinationwith the hidden cameras, participants may use their own video cameras,cell phones, or other video devices to capture footage of their questfor the treasure. This footage may be broadcast as part of the show inorder to increase the entertainment value of the game. Further, when aparticipant actually locates a treasure chest, the chest includes a codethat may correspond with a prize that is unknown to the participant atthe time it is located. Then, in the next episode of the show, thatparticipant may appear with the host or a co-host for a presentation ofthe actual prize (such as a new car, an all-expense paid vacation, orany number of other valuable prizes). It should be understood that whilethis game is described as being broadcast on television, otherelectronic media may be used, either instead of or in combination withtelevision media, such as the internet, to allow the public to watch thegame, and to participate, as well.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Overview

The present invention includes a large-scale treasure hunt type of agame. The treasure hunt game, in a preferred embodiment, is in the formof a televised game show that features a nationwide treasure hunt for anational grand prize, as well as a series of regional or local treasurehunts that yield weekly prizes and local grand prizes. In oneembodiment, the game features a host in a studio with a live studioaudience, and a series of co-hosts that are located and disbursed acrossa large geographical area. The host serves as a sort of master ofceremonies, and periodically pans to the co-hosts across the countrythroughout the show. The co-hosts, in one embodiment, may be located ineach of the fifty states, and they give on-air clues that lead either toprizes or other clues. When the host pans to a co-host in the field, thelocation of the co-host is indicated on the large map near the host. Theco-hosts may broadcast from any suitable place, including well-knownpoints of interest, public parks, scenic locations, or local businesses.

It is contemplated that the game may consist of a series of episodeswithin a single season, similarly to the popular American Idol contestand show. During the early episodes, clues are given out that lead toother clues, and eventually to treasure chests. Each chest includes anembossed code which corresponds to a prize. The contestants who find thetreasure chests do not know what prize they have won until the nextweek, when they appear on the show, present their treasure chest, andare awarded the corresponding prize.

As the season progresses, the prizes become larger, and the clues becomemore difficult to solve. Ultimately, the series leads to the finalepisode, which culminates in the award of local vacations, cash, andpossibly real estate, such as a new home or vacation home. Any suitableprizes may be awarded.

Sponsors

The game may include a series of sponsors, typically small to largebusinesses, and the sponsors may donate prizes to be awarded tocontestants. A sponsor may also pay a fee to be included in the game, orcould simply “purchase” a clue, or a number of clues. In return, theclues that are provided for a certain location may drive contestants tothese sponsor businesses, or may cause the participants to purchaseproducts sold by the sponsors. For example, a co-host may broadcast froma local automobile dealership (sponsor), and clues may be distributed toevery person who comes to the dealership within a certain amount of timeand test drives a new vehicle from that dealership. The local grandprize in that location could be a new car, given away by that sponsor.Other sponsor's clues may be distributed in association with thatsponsor's products. For example, clues may be found on the inside ofcereal boxes, under bottle caps, on fast food wrappers, or in any othersuitable, preferably creative, manner. So, essentially, in return fordonating prizes and possibly paying for the right to become a sponsor,the game includes creative ways to drive customers to purchase productsand/or services from the sponsor, and also drives foot traffic tosponsor businesses.

Additionally, sponsors may elect to advertise in the traditional manner,using commercials during the game show, or by including advertisementson official game web sites, etc. It is also contemplated that cluesultimately leading to prizes (whether directly to the prize, orindirectly to more clues that eventually lead to the prize) may bedisclosed by sponsors during television commercials that are broadcastduring other programs, including commercials aired during populartelevised events like the Superbowl. In one embodiment, when a businesssigns on to become a sponsor, the administrators of the game may simplyprovide a set of clues to that sponsor and allow that sponsor topublicly disclose the clues in any manner in which they see fit,potentially subject to approval from the game administrators.Alternatively, the sponsor may be allowed to generate their own clues,providing a trail to the prize donated by that sponsor, and may furtherdecide how those clues are going to be publicly disclosed. It iscontemplated, however, that under most circumstances, at least some ofthe clues for any particular prize be disclosed during an episode of thegame show. Preferably, the game show would also broadcast footage ofcontestants actually finding the treasure chests, and all awards of theprizes would be broadcast as part of the show, as well.

Sponsorship may be divided into several different levels. For instance,a top sponsor, who pays the most money and donates the most valuableprizes in order to participate, may be permitted to generate or useseveral different clues that drive customers to their products,services, or places of business. The lowest level sponsor will bepermitted to simply purchase a clue, and may then hide the cluesomewhere within one of their products, like on the inside of a candybar wrapper, for example. There may exist middle tiers of sponsorship,so that the number of clues provided to the sponsors, and the level ofparticipation of that sponsor, corresponds directly to the value of theprizes donated and/or cash paid by that sponsor. In other words, themore prizes and/or cash the sponsors donate or pay in to the show, themore exposure they will receive through the use of clues to weeklyprizes and grand prizes.

Contestants and Prizes

In this game, contestants may include anyone in the general public. Inorder to participate, a contestant simply watches the television showand begins following the clues to the treasure chest. In one embodiment,at least one new prize is awarded each week for a given geographicalregion, such as a state, and each prize is independent of earlier orlater awarded prizes, so that winning a prize one week confers noadvantage to that winner during the next week or subsequent weeks. Thisrule structure allows and encourages anyone to begin competing forprizes, even if they are starting in the middle of the season, havingmissed the first few episodes or rounds of clues.

Although winning a weekly prize may not confer any advantage on thewinner with respect to future weekly prizes, it is contemplated in oneoptional embodiment that the winner of any weekly prize may receive aclue to the grand prize (either the national grand prize, the localgrand prize, or both) that is not made publicly available. Thus, in apreferred embodiment, winners of weekly prizes may be afforded anadvantage over others for locating the local grand prize, or even thenational grand prize. This arrangement encourages people to participatein both the weekly treasure hunt and the season-long hunt for the grandprizes.

In one embodiment, hidden cameras may be placed at or near thetreasures, in order to capture video of contestants as they get close tofinding the treasure. Alternatively, or in combination with the hiddencameras, contestants may use their own video cameras, cell phones, orother video devices to capture footage of their quest for the treasure.This footage may be broadcast as part of the show in order to increasethe entertainment value of the game. Even if a contestant does not finda treasure chest in a given week, the footage of their quest may beshown on the next week's episode, if that footage is deemed to haveentertainment value.

Every week, co-hosts in various geographic locations give clues aboutthe location of the weekly local prize, and additionally, the host maygive out the next clue to finding the local grand prize. The local andnational grand prizes are obviously the most difficult to find, and newclues about the location of the grand prizes are disclosed each week onthe game show by the host (national grand prize) and the co-hosts (localgrand prizes). A running list of these clues may be provided on anofficial treasure hunt web site, so that if a contestant misses anepisode of the show, he or she can still get the latest clue (as well asthe cumulative list of clues to date) from the website. Weekly prizewinners may receive additional clues that are not made public, asmentioned heretofore.

Episode Structure

Each episode may be divided into three main segments. In the firstportion of the show, the host may recap the highlights from the previousweek and repeat the most recent clues. The host may pan to variousstates where the co-hosts provide local coverage and show clips ofcontestants that have found a treasure chest.

Next, winners from the current week appear on the show carrying theirtreasure chest. Each chest has an embossed code which is read out loudby the contestant so that the matching prize can be announced. Thewinning prizes are announced and presented to the contestants in frontof the applauding studio audience.

After the prize presentation, the host describes and provides some“hype” for the outstanding prizes. Clues are given for the location ofthe next round of hidden treasure chests. Celebrity guest appearancesmay be used to deliver the clues and attract additional viewers.

Revenue

The treasure hunt game show may generate revenue in a number ofdifferent ways. Of course, advertisers may pay to have their commercialsaired during the show. Ads may also be placed on the official treasurehunt game web site. Sponsors may be required to pay a fee in order tobecome sponsors, or simply to purchase clues. As stated heretofore, whena sponsor purchases a clue, then sponsor has the opportunity place theclue in or on one of its products to be sold to the public, or maydisclose the clue as part of its services, or the clue may be used todrive foot traffic to the sponsor's place of business.

Indirect revenue may be generated by the treasure hunt game show, aswell. A network that broadcasts the show may drive viewership of othershows by interviewing winners, as well as giving out clues on othertelevision shows broadcast by that network. Contestants may be driven towatch new television shows by the promise of receiving new clues.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detailwith reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions arepossible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims shouldnot be limited to the description of the preferred versions containedherein. All features disclosed in this specification may be replaced byalternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose,unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly statedotherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a genericseries of equivalent or similar features.

1. A method of playing a treasure hunt game comprising the steps of:broadcasting a series of audio visual episodes featuring a host, whereinsaid host discloses clues to a location where an item is hidden duringeach episode of said series; selling at least one clue to a sponsor,wherein said sponsor discloses said clue publicly by associating saidclue with said sponsor's goods, services, or place of business; allowingcontestants to follow said clues in a quest to find said hidden item,wherein contestants may comprise any member of the public, so that thenumber of contestants is unlimited; allowing said contestants to findsaid hidden item and trade said hidden item for a prize; andbroadcasting a presentation of said prize to said contestant during anepisode.
 2. The method set forth in claim 1, further including the stepof: providing a plurality of hidden items, and broadcasting clues tolocations of each said hidden item.
 3. The method set forth in claim 1,further including the step of: selling at least one clue to a pluralityof said sponsors, wherein each said clue is unique, so that each saidsponsor receives a different clue.
 4. The method set forth in claim 1,further including the steps of: providing at least one hidden camerathat is directed toward said hidden item, so that said camera maycapture audio and video footage of a contestant finding said hiddenitem; and broadcasting said footage captured by said hidden cameraduring one of said episodes.
 5. The method set forth in claim 1, furtherincluding the steps of: allowing contestants to capture footage ofthemselves searching for said hidden item; and broadcasting said footagecaptured by said contestants during an episode of said series.
 6. Themethod set forth in claim 1, wherein said prize is provided by saidsponsor.
 7. The method set forth in claim 1, further including the stepof: presenting a secret clue to said contestant along with said prize,wherein said secret clue is associated with a location of a secondhidden item, and wherein said secret clue is disclosed only to thatcontestant, and is not disclosed to any other contestant.